Pubdate: Wed, 26 Feb 2014
Source: Guardian, The (CN PI)
Copyright: 2014 The Guardian, Charlottetown Guardian Group Incorporated
Contact:  http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/174
Author: Dave Stewart

MEDICAL MARIJUANA PLANTS AS SECURE AS PENTAGON, OFFICIAL SAYS

The CEO of a company building a medical marijuana plant in Ontario is 
praising Charlottetown city council for paving the way for P. E. I.' 
s first production facility.

Bill Chaaban, CEO of Creative Edge Nutrition, said these facilities 
are state of the art and just as secure as the Pentagon.

Before they can be built, Health Canada says municipal approval is 
required as well as approval of the local police and fire departments.

"We are, essentially, building in our neck of the woods a supermax 
federal security prison," Chaaban said, noting the facility also 
carries a premium camera system, two-tier fencing and a level 10 
vault that weighs 2.5 million pounds and is 4,000 square feet in size.

He said such a facility in Charlottetown would be similar. Creative 
Edge Nutrition is spending close to $ 20 million to build one in 
Lakeshore, Ont.

Earlier this month, Charlottetown council passed a resolution, 
agreeing to amend the city's zoning and development bylaw by adding 
the definition for medical marijuana production facility. Council 
didn't have much choice.

Under new federal legislation, large indoor marijuana farms certified 
by the RCMP and health inspectors, will be allowed to produce, 
package and distribute a range of standardized marijuana, all of it 
sold for whatever price the market will bear.

By changing the bylaw, council is restricting where this facility can 
be built - the West Royalty Industrial Park, some light industrial 
areas located north of the city's bypass highway and the bio-commons 
park. The city is believed to be looking at an application for a 
building permit now.

Had council not acted, a medical marijuana facility could have been 
built anywhere.

Chaaban said Health Canada will also want a 500- metre radius aerial 
view of where the facility will be built and what type of zoning 
exists in the surrounding area.

Their facility will sit on six acres with operational space of more 
than 80,000 square feet.

"These companies ( like ours) are being licensed and inspected by 
Health Canada, third-party lab tested by Health Canada to ensure 
patients have access to quality pure medicine. We're not talking 
recreational ( use). We're talking medicine that needs to get to 
patients that require it." Chaaban said these facilities will also 
boost the local economy.

"You are going to go to super licensed producers with inspected 
licences by the federal government who are going to collect and remit 
tax back to the government. The government is going to be able to 
come in and audit every single plant, every single record, every 
single book and that's the way it should be done.

"It's a great thing for the country. I think that Canada is 
positioning itself to be a world leader in medical marijuana. It 
could create an enormous amount of skilled and unskilled jobs for the 
( Charlottetown) region. I think it's great for the community and 
great for the public."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom